In many high frequency applications such as for example phased array radar, RF performance is extremely important. Many coaxial cable lines are used in the high frequency equipment for such applications. It is highly important that the electrical lenghts of these coaxial cable lines be precise so that phase shift of the signal is held to a tight tolerance.
The usual procedure in the prior art for preparing the coaxial cable lines for high frequency applications is to secure coaxial connectors as by soldering onto the ends of the coaxial cable lines, then test them for electrical length. In most cases, the coaxial cable lines would have to be trimmed to obtain the desired electrical length. To do this, one of the coaxial connectors would have to be removed from the coaxial cable line, the end of the cable trimmed, and the connector resecured in place. Hopefully, proper trimming of the cable end was done, otherwise, the operation had to be repeated. If too much cable was trimmed, the cable was discarded. Such practice is time consuming and can result in discarded cable.